By Sam Cox, Digital Music Editor
Having already welcomed Bristol Pride and Bristol Comedy Garden during this long, drought-ridden summer, Clifton Downs will open its gates a final time before the start of the new university term on September 3rd and 4th for the glittering debut of Forwards Festival, which seeks to challenge the very concept of what a festival can be.
The team behind Forwards Festival - AEG (All Points East, Coachella) and Bristol’s own Team Love (Love Saves The Day, Simple Things) - are keen to emphasise that Forwards Festival is looking to do more than simply sign, seal and deliver a cast of big musical names to the Downs. The names are very much there, of course, but what Forwards aims to do reaches far wider than that. Hoping to challenge what metropolitan festivals can be in 2022, its organisers are casting an eye on its host city and their communities; as well as outreach, engagement and meaningful partnerships with local youth organisations, it is also hoping to be, in their words, “a space for activism, examination, debate and understanding on today’s current affairs and cultural issues.” This comes in the form of The Information, a stage which will host a line-up of experts, artists, writers and thinkers looking to educate and to challenge their audience. Between this and a line-up of cross-genre music bursting at the seams, it might seem a little overwhelming trying to narrow down what to see this weekend, so we’ve handily picked out five things you won’t want to miss.
1. Little Simz
A year has passed since Sometimes I Might Be Introvert, Little Simz’ fourth album proper, and if her previous effort, Grey Area, gave her a seat at the table of UK hip-hop’s leading lights, the new album has marked her as arguably the genre’s brightest star. She has brought her confessional and awe-inspiring live show to Glastonbury and Reading already this year and this might be your last chance to see her before the inevitable headline slots and arena tours propel her to even dizzier heights.
2. Sudan Archives
Self-taught violinist turned avant-garde pop instigator, Brittney Denise Parks, aka Sudan Archives, lusciously combines the baroque with the brash to create a sound that is uniquely her own. Drawing inspiration from rabbit holes as deep as Sudanese folk music to contemporary experimental club music, her second album, Natural Brown Prom Queen, is due out on September 9th. You’re unlikely to see anything this weekend more defiantly idiosyncratic than Sudan Archives.
3. Travis Alabanza and Shon Faye
It is the panels and talks which mark Forwards out from other festivals this summer and Saturday’s conversation between Shon Faye and Travis Alabanza is likely to be as captivating and enriching as any musical set the Downs is offering. Faye, the author of The Transgender Issue, a sobering read which makes a plea for empathy and details the way that the UK is failing trans people, and which was launched at Bristol’s Strange Brew last year, will discuss the realities of love and romance in our times with Alabanza, writer, performer and theatre-maker whose work surrounding gender, trans identity and race has seen them give talks as far-reaching as Oxford, Harvard and our own university.
4. Rozi Plain
Closing The Information stage on the Sunday evening, Rozi Plain’s brand of hushed but urgent indie-folk has been a staple of the British festival season for several years and will provide a welcome aural respite on the day that also welcomes the Chemical Brothers and The Comet is Coming’s higher-octane displays. Her most recent album, 2019’s What a Boost, continues the lineage of essential LPs and her work with This Is The Kit cements her as one of the genre’s most talented performers and writers.
5. Charli XCX
Very little can be said about Charli XCX that hasn’t already been written verbatim by critics and fans alike in the past decade, but no praise ever veers into hyperbole when it comes to Charli’s hyper-pop prowess. An ever-evolving pop demigoddess whose music challenges and toys with its audience without ever sacrificing soaring choruses or laser-sharp production courtesy of PC Music’s A.G. Cook, Dijon, the late SOPHIE and, most recently, Tïesto. Essential, important, life-affirming. You won’t find a better pop performance at any festival this summer than Charli XCX on Clifton Downs.
Tickets for Forwards are still available and can be purchased here.
Featured image: Chris Hoare
Will you be going to Forwards?
